Austin Cranley

CJS 207
Farmer
March 2nd, 2019

Police Brutality in America

In the world of policing, there has always been criticism of police and their efforts

to better the community. While criticism may have existed for years, it didn’t start

coming to the forefront until recently. With issues of police of brutality almost a common

issue nowadays, we can’t help but look at the issue and think of solutions to help reduce

or even rectify the issue. One major issue in the world of criminal justice is the use of

force against civilians and in unnecessary situations and the factors that contribute to

the decisions to use force.

In the United States today, police are constantly being seen in a negative light

because of their actions against their community. While it is seen as an issue, many

have always wondered, but never researched as to what factors play a part in police

brutality. In the article ​Examining the Situationaland Suspect-Level Predictors of Police

Use of Force Among a Juvenile Arrestee Population. Justice Policy Journal ​by Weston

Morrow, they take a look at what influencing factors with teens and young adults play

into use of force. One finding that Morrow had found was “In cases involving suspect

resistance, Alpert and Dunham (1999) found that police officers employ force in 97

percent of the cases.” They also found that the use of force and aggressiveness grows

when the resistance grows. Meaning that in situations where police discretion comes

into play, there is less of a chance that police are going to use police brutality, if they are
not provoked. Morrow also found that “When a suspect is carrying a weapon, for

example, research commonly finds that police officers employ higher levels of force,

which may include lethal or less-than-lethal forms of force.” Morrow also found that

“Police are more likely to use force against disrespectful citizens in comparison to their

more respectful counterparts.” Another researcher named Sirry Alang had similar

findings, she found that “the risk of being killed in a violent interaction with the police

depends not only on idiosyncratic circumstances and individuals’ choices, but also on

the interplay between one’s race/ ethnicity and the broader contextual environment in

which policing occurs.” Which also can play into the theory set by Morrow, that police

won’t act in a violent manner unless otherwise provoked or are treated rudely by the

individual that they are interacting with. Although there are individuals who are set in

their ways, who may ruin the perspective from the communities’ standpoint, that tends

to be common factor in some of these journals.

Another factor that can play into police’s use of force, is the right of discretion

given to police. Discretion is something that has been under heavy criticism in the

United States especially in recent years and recent events. Discretion is defined by

many as the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation. Michael

Braun and Jeremy Rosenthal found that in Texas there were a higher rate of more

serious offenses given to minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics than

white offenders for the same crime. Which could suggest that police could use their

discretion to decide who should get the more serious charge given a choice of three

men, each with a different ethnicity or race. James Albrecht is another researcher who
examined the New York Police Department, and its discretion. He says that, “Ideally,

police discretion involves a professional judgment that ‘preserves community and citizen

safety, respect for the law, and citizen rights to due process and equal protection of the

law’”. This to many, is the outcome that they would want to see with police discretion.

Which also could be the part of discretion that draws the most criticism because of the

failure to meet those standards set by the public. Discretion can contribute to the use of

force through an officer’s decision to decide when the use of force is appropriate and

necessary. Lisa Wansbrough cites that one of the biggest issues of use of force is “how

to ensure effective legal control and accountability over its use.” This absolutely is an

issue with police. If the police are having an issue with effective legal control over the

decision of when to use force and how much force, then it is an issue that must be fixed.

Police use of force is a very prominent issue in the world of policing today. There

are also many different avenues of how a solution can be reached or achieved. The

reason why we need to act on this now is because J. Scott Carter cites that many

Americans believe that police use of force is based on racial biases or that use of force

is tied to race. As an occupation with everything that they do and see, police need to be

the some of the most impartial people in the professional world. One solution would be

that every department does a Field Training Program or FTP. When I was shadowing

the interns at the Naperville Police Department, we worked with the officers of the

Naperville Police Department to help them in certain scenarios. I believe that there are

some officers that are simply unprepared when it comes to scenarios where officers

choose to use force. If we could set up FTP programs for these officers, that can explain
all of the different possible avenues that doesn’t include force, it could be a step in the

right direction. When I worked with the department, many officers said that “training

actually helps, people may not think it helps, but it really makes a difference.” They said

that having run through it in a real life simulation and at full speed. It helps address the

possible actions and consequences that the officers can then apply in the field. Other

solutions can be sensitivity training that departments can go through with their

respective officers, but I think that having the simulations, in a hands on experience,

would be more beneficial to the officers.

Use of Force is an issue that has always been an issue in the world of policing.

But if we are going to address the ongoing issue, we need to educate officers on ways

to reach a conclusion that doesn’t include a possible lawsuit or news story. If we can

properly integrate Field Training Programs or sensitivity training, I believe that it can

help the officers of the future. Which as a result will improve community and police

relations, hopefully propelling us to a brighter tomorrow.

References:

Alang, S. (2018). The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same: Race, Ethnicity, and Police Brutality.

American Journal of Public Health​, ​108​(9), 1127–1128.

https://do-iorg.libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304628

Albrecht, J. F. (2011). Examining Police Discretion and the Use of Firearms Involving the New York City Police

Department. ​Pakistan Journal of Criminology​, ​3​(2/3), 1–10. Retrieved from

http://libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=89691177

&site=eds-live&scope=site

Braun, M., Rosenthal, J., & Therrian, K. (2018). Police Discretion and Racial Disparity in Organized Retail Theft

Arrests: Evidence from Texas. ​Journal of Empirical Legal Studies​, ​15​(4), 916–950.

https://doi-org.libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/10.1111/jels.12201

Carter, J. S., & Corra, M. (2016). Racial Resentment and Attitudes Toward the Use of Force by Police: An

Over-Time Trend Analysis. ​Sociological Inquiry​, ​86​(4), 492–511. ​https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12136

Morrow, W. J., Nuño, L. E., & Mulvey, P. (2018). Examining the Situationaland Suspect-Level Predictors of Police

Use of Force Among a Juvenile Arrestee Population. ​Justice Policy Journal,​ ​15(​ 1), 1–22. Retrieved from

http://libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=13101447

0&site=eds-live&scope=site
Wansbrough, L. (2008). Less Than Legal Force?: An Examination of the Legal Control of the Police Use of Force in

New Zealand. ​Mata Koi : Auckland University Law Review, Te​, 176. Retrieved from

http://libproxy.lib.ilstu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsihs&AN=edsihs.

602416314771895&site=eds-live&scope=site